Disability Employer Engagement Derbyshire (DEED) is a recently formed service within Public Health, made up of enthusiastic and knowledgeable people. DEED’s aim is to reduce stigma and barriers around employing people with disabilities, by creating a tailored package for both employer and employee. This free service assists businesses across Derbyshire by giving support and guidance, enabling them to employ those with disabilities and/or long-term health conditions. DEED are also wanting to increase the number of Disability Confident businesses across Derbyshire, thereby empowering employers to benefit from the positive opportunities when employing disabled people.

Feel like your business could benefit? Or have comments on how DEED can develop their latest offer?

Email: EmployAble@derbyshire.gov.uk

New analysis from Action on Smoking and Health shows more than 180,000 people in England have died from smoking since the Government pledged to make England smokefree by 2030 in its Green Paper on July 22, 2019.

Since then, in England: 

• 181,900 people have died from a smoking related illness.
• 290,920 children have started smoking.
• Smokers have spent £33.9bn on tobacco.

The Government has published The Khan Review: The Independent Review into Smokefree 2030 Policies. The report contains 15 independent recommendations, including 4 which are stated as ‘critical’ for the Government to meet its Smokefree 2030 target. The four critical recommendations are:

1. Urgently invest £125 million per year in a comprehensive Smokefree 2030 programme. Options to fund this include a ‘polluter pays’ levy. 
2. Raise the age of sale of tobacco by one year every year. 
3. Offer vaping as a substitute for smoking, alongside accurate information on the benefits of switching, including to healthcare professionals. 
4. For the NHS to prioritise further action to stop people from smoking, by providing support and treatment across all of its services, including primary care. 

For more information the full report can be accessed here: The Khan review: making smoking obsolete - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For more information about stopping smoking and support from Live Life Better Derbyshire click here Stopping smoking - Live Life Better Derbyshire

Employers must protect workers from the risks of MSDs being caused or made worse by work. MSDs include injuries and conditions that can affect the back, joints and limbs. Our MSD website has information and advice on a range of related topics including:

• manual handling at work
• working safely with display screen equipment

Advice has changed and employers must now carry out an individual risk assessment for pregnant workers and new mothers. There will be minimal practical change as employers must already consider risks to women of childbearing age in a general risk assessment. However employers must now also carry out an individual risk assessment that covers a worker’s specific needs when they are informed in writing that they:

• are pregnant
• have given birth in the last 6 months, or
• are breastfeeding

Updated webpages, by the Health and Safety Executive, provides advice on talking to workers, and protecting them from common risks like working at a height and lifting heavy loads. There is also dedicated advice for workers themselves and a video with practical advice on how to keep pregnant workers and new mothers safe. 

Health Information Week runs for the 4th to 10th July. High quality health information can have a huge impact on people's ability to stay healthy and manage illnesses effectively, giving them a better quality of life. For more information on this please visit the website or twitter below;

Home | Health Information Week (healthinfoweek.wixsite.com)

Health Information Week (@Healthinfoweek) / Twitter

This year National Breastfeeding Week will run form 27th June-3rd July. The theme for the week is 'Everyone has a part to play in helping mums to breastfeed'. The key focus will be the difference that can be made if everyone supports breastfeeding e.g. partners, the wider family, community, health and education services and the workplace.

The Breastfeeding Welcome Here Awards encourage businesses and organisations in the county to make women feel welcome while they are breastfeeding, by offering welcoming, safe spaces for mums and babies.

A copy of the breast feeding charter is also available here: breastfeeding charter.

The UK's biggest cycling commuting event returns on the 4th August 2022! Whether you're a keen cyclist, not cycled in years or never cycled. Cycle to Work Day is for everyone so why not give it a go. For more information on this please visit Cycle to Work Day - Cyclescheme

Or follow them on Twitter cycletoworkday (@cycletoworkday) / Twitter

National Fitness Day 2022 will take place on Wednesday 21st September and is a chance to highlight the role physical activity plays across the UK.

For more information about the day please visit the website National Fitness Day – The UK's Largest Physical Activity Celebration

Socialising, dating, intimacy – for many people, these things have been disrupted over the past couple of years of lockdowns and uncertainty. Now we’re approaching our first summer completely free from any restrictions, we want to encourage people to enjoy their freedom and empower them to do it safely.

Promoting safer sex – free condoms Call to action: Look after your whole self this summer with free condoms at your local sexual health clinic or online through the postal condoms service.

Promoting safer sex – sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening Call to action: Look after your whole self this summer with a quick and easy test at your local sexual health clinic or order a self-test kit online.

Stay PrEPared PrEP stands for pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis. It’s a way of preventing HIV infection by taking a pill on an ongoing basis before sex and continued after sex. It’s taken by someone who doesn’t have HIV, to prevent them from getting HIV. PrEP roll-out is one of the ways in which we can achieve the zero HIV transmissions by 2030 and working towards the national HIV Action Plan released in December 2021. This campaign will aim to raise awareness of PrEP, encouraging people to find out more about what PrEP is and if they are eligible for free prescriptions from their local sexual health clinic.

Example call to action: Did you know taking PrEP as part of your daily routine can help protect you from HIV? PrEP is extremely effective when taken routinely and can greatly reduce the risk of contracting HIV. Find out more about PrEP by contacting your local sexual health team.

For more information please visit Home (yoursexualhealthmatters.org.uk)

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Managers across England are being encouraged to do more to support employee health as the latest figures show workers in the UK take an average of 131 million sick days per year. The call comes after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published ‘Workplace policy management guidance’ as a tool for workplaces to do more for their staff. If you are interested in promoting health within your workplaces visit www.derbyshire.gov.uk/healthyworkplaces for more details.  

https://www.facebook.com/HealthyWorkplacesDerbyshire

https://twitter.com/H_W_Derbyshire